Fed up of daily complaints from neighbours and cops about her 20-year-old son creating ruckus in the area, the woman, along with four others, hatched the plan to murder him. After killing the boy, the five kept the body in a gunny bag, took it to the ghat, and threw it in the debris. This incident took place three months back. But, it was only on Saturday that cops recovered the deceased’s decomposed skull and bones from the ghat.

The deceased, Akshay Malpote

The murdered boy has been identified as Akshay Malpote, a resident of Kishkinda Nagar in Kothrud. A case has been registered by the Pune city police crime branch against mother Indubai (40), and the neighbours Ganpat Yadav (32), his son Babaji (19), Arun Adsul (50) and Pappu (22). All were arrested under relevant sections of IPC for murder, tampering with evidence, and act done by them with common intension.

Deputy Commissioner of Police PR Patil said, “The murder took place on December 2 last year. Till date, there has been no missing or murder case filed by Akshay’s relatives. For maintaining peace in the city, we had prepared a goon list of externs and in it Akshay’s name was mentioned. Our police visited his house frequently to summon him to us, but his mother used to tell us that he is out station. Our team tried to find his whereabouts, but he was untraceable. Later, we received information about his murder and zeroed down on the culprits.”

Inspector Sushma Chavan, in-charge of Property cell of crime branch, Pune city police, informed, “Akshay had six criminal cases filed against him relating to riots, assault and attempt to murder in the last two years. The incident (of his murder) took place on December 2 last year, near his residence. Daily, under the influence of liquor, he used to create ruckus in the area. On that day, the arrested five hatched the plan to kill him. Around 11 pm, he came home and started fighting with his mother. Ganpat and Adsule started beating him physically and in a fit of anger, Indubai snatched Ganpat’s knife and stabbed him. Later, they all stoned him to death.”

Giving more details of the murder, Chavan added, “The accused wrapped his body in a gunny bag and covered it with bed sheets. They took his body to Tamhini Ghat and threw it in an isolated area.”

She added, “Initially, Indubai and others were not revealing facts, but we gathered circumstantial evidence like cell phone data, the last day Akshay was seen and some blurred footage of the tempo in which all had travelled. After this, they spilled the bean and confessed to the crime. On Saturday, our team, with help from local mountaineers started the search for Akshay, and after several hours, we found his decomposed skull and some bones. Others body parts were missing as some wild animals may have eaten it.''

DCP Patil added, “During preliminary investigation, the mother revealed she was tired of daily complaints about her son, which embarrassed her. She wanted her son to take up education and be a good human, but he wanted to be a goon of his area. Indubai is a vegetable vendor while her husband is driver and another son is studying in school. A month after murder, Indubai shared the facts with her husband and younger son.”